“Teach me the Book of Genealogies”: Anecdote of R' Simlai and R' Yoḥanan (Pesachim 62b)
Intro
R' Simlai approached R' Yoḥanan and asked to be taught the Book of Genealogies (ספר יוחסין), understood to be a midrash on the biblical Book of Chronicles.
R' Yoḥanan inquired about his origins and current residence, and upon learning Simlai was from Lod and resided in Neharde’a, he refused, citing a tradition against teaching Lodites and Neharde’ans.
R' Simlai persisted until R' Yoḥanan reluctantly agreed.
Simlai then requested to learn the Book of Genealogies in 3 months. R' Yoḥanan, exasperated, threw a clod of dirt at him and explained that even Berurya, a highly capable female scholar who learned 300 halakhot (שמעתתא) in one day from 300 Sages (רבוותא), could not master the Book of Genealogies in 3 years, due to its complexity. He expressed his frustration at Simlai's request to learn it in three months and refused to teach him, considering the requested task to be impossible.
The Passage
רבי שמלאי אתא לקמיה דרבי יוחנן,
אמר ליה: ניתני לי מר ספר יוחסין.
אמר ליה: מהיכן את?
אמר ליה: מלוד.
והיכן מותבך?
בנהרדעא.
אמר ליה: אין נידונין לא ללודים ולא לנהרדעים, וכל שכן דאת מלוד, ומותבך בנהרדעא!
כפייה, וארצי.
אמר ליה: ניתנייה בתלתא ירחי.
שקל קלא, פתק ביה,
אמר ליה: ומה ברוריה, דביתהו דרבי מאיר, ברתיה דרבי חנניה בן תרדיון, דתניא תלת מאה שמעתתא ביומא מתלת מאה רבוותא, ואפילו הכי לא יצתה ידי חובתה בתלת שנין, ואת אמרת בתלתא ירחי?!
[...]
R' Simlai came before R' Yoḥanan.
He said to him: Would the Master teach me the Book of Genealogies? The Book of Genealogies was a collection of tannaitic teachings that formed a midrash on the book of Chronicles.
R' Yoḥanan said to him: Where are you from?
He said to him: From Lod.
R' Yoḥanan further asked: And where is your present place of residence?
He said to him: In Neharde’a.
R' Yoḥanan said to him: I have a tradition that we teach these subjects neither to Lodites nor to Neharde’ans, and certainly not to you who comes from Lod and your residence is in Neharde’a, such that you have both shortcomings.
R' Simlai pressured R' Yoḥanan until he agreed to teach him.
R' Simlai said to him: Teach me the Book of Genealogies in three months.
R' Yoḥanan took a clod of dirt, threw it at him,
and said to him: Berurya, wife of R' Meir and daughter of R' Ḥananya ben Teradyon, was so sharp and had such a good memory that she learned three hundred halakhot in one day from three hundred Sages, and nonetheless she did not fulfill her responsibility to properly learn the Book of Genealogies in three years because it is especially long and difficult. And you say that I should teach it to you in three months? After your inappropriate request, I am not inclined to teach you at all.
[...]
“From the day the Book of Genealogies was hidden, the strength of the Sages has been weakened, and the light of their eyes has been dimmed”
The Gemara mentions the Book of Genealogies, with Rami bar Rav Yuda (רמי בר רב יודא) citing Rav's statement that the loss of this book metaphorically “weakened the Sages and dimmed their understanding”, as it contained reasons for many Torah laws and genealogical lists now lost.
Mar Zutra added that the book’s commentary on Chronicles was so extensive that, hyperbollically, it was said that the verses from "Azel" in one verse to "Azel" in another, identical verse, filled 400 camels with scrolls of expositions.
אמר רמי בר רב יודא, אמר רב:
מיום שנגנז ספר יוחסין, תשש כחן של חכמים, וכהה מאור עיניהם.
אמר מר זוטרא:
בין ״אצל״ ל״אצל״, טעינו ארבע מאה גמלי דדרשא.
Having mentioned the Book of Genealogies, the Gemara notes that Rami bar Rav Yuda said that Rav said the following about it:
From the day the Book of Genealogies was hidden and no longer available to the Sages, the strength of the Sages has been weakened, and the light of their eyes has been dimmed, as the book contained the reasons for many Torah laws and lists of genealogies that are now lost.
Mar Zutra said:
The Book of Genealogies’ exposition of Chronicles was so extensive that it was said, in exaggeration, that the verses from the word Azel mentioned in the verse: “And Azel had six sons and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocru, and Ishmael and Sheariah and Obadia and Hanan; all these were the sons of Azel” (I Chronicles 8:38), to the word Azel mentioned in a different verse with the identical wording: “And Azel had six sons and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocru, and Ishmael and Sheariah and Obadia and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel” (I Chronicles 9:44), bore four hundred camels of expositions written about these verses.